WHAT IS HYDROPONICS?

So exactly what is hydroponics? According
to Webster: "The cultivation of plants by placing the roots in liquid
nutrient solutions rather than in soil". That's it! You got it!

WHAT IS HYDROPONICS?OUR SIMPLE EXPLANATION

First, you need to understand how plants
really grow. Did you know that they don't actually need soil at all?
They need the nutrients hiding in it.

In a hydroponic garden, crops are supported in a neutral medium (like
gravel or clay balls). Then you mix up a batch of solution, which has
all the essential nutrients the plant needs. This liquid food is then
circulated around the roots of the plants by either wick action (passive
system) or a pump (active). Voila! The ultimate growing machine!

The
active systems, in which the juice is pumped to the plants, is really
quite efficient. It is fantastic for a fully automated grow room or
greenhouse.

The setup doesn't have to be elaborate,
either. Just a small pump on a timer, and you are off on your cruise
while your hydroponic garden keeps chugging along without you.

THE LAZY TOMATO BUSH

What is hydroponics?

In a
traditional soil-based garden, a plant wastes most of its energy
developing a huge root system. Why? Because it has to search far and
wide in the soil for its food and water. In hydroponics, it is all
delivered directly to it's roots. You bypass the soil, which is much
slower and unpredictable at providing food.

Since it no longer
has to search for its food, a plant's growth and energy is redirected to
the production of foliage, flowers, fruit or vegetables. The root
systems of hydroponic plants are much smaller than those planted in
soil... so you can plant closer together... and harvest much more yield
from less space!

Those crops
produce up to three times more, larger, tastier, and more nutritious
produce! Ornamentals and herbs grow like weeds. Skeptical? So was I 'til
I tasted my first hydroponic tomato!

IS HYDROPONICS UNNATURAL ORARTIFICIAL?

Let's let you decide...

In hydroponics, all you are doing is providing nutrients directly to a plant's roots. Roots can only take in pure elements.
They don't suck up soil. The plant doesn't care where he gets his
necessary chemicals, whether it's from the soil or from a hydroponics
solution.

In hydroponic gardening, you provide your plant with
everything it needs, in all the right proportions, at just the right
time, in the most efficient way. It is an attempt to grow the "perfect
plant", allowing it to reach it's full genetic potential. And with the
proper equipment, supplies and a little diligence, you can come pretty
darn close.

Some people believe that hydroponically grown plants
are given "steroids" or other dangerous hormones in order to make them
grow so well and look so fantastic. No, we do not add harmful chemicals
to hydroponic nutrient solutions. We provide our plants with exactly the
same 17 nutrients and elements the plant searches for in soil. Nothing
more. And each plant uses only the exact elements it needs, whether from
soil or solution. No steroids in my gym!

Although hydroponics might seem futuristic
to you, it is not "artificial". It does not manipulate nature, it works
with it and "helps it along". What a fresh, lean, clean (and green)
approach to gardening!

Want to take a quick peek at some
"cutting edge hydroponics"? Look what the folks at Disney's Epcot Center
are doing in "Living With the Land". Then c'mon back here. There's much
more...

So that's it in a nutshell.. our simple answer to the question "What is Hydroponics?"

What's next? Time to take an honest look at the pros and cons of hydroponic gardening... visit our Why Bother? page next to decide if hydroponics is right for you... before you drop your first dime.